Disney's Hunch Back Of Notre Dame On Stage
Ever since the original Victor Hugo novel debuted in 1831, the tale of Quasimodo has captured the collective imagination with its message of acceptance and love, albeit with a darker gothic flair. In 1996 the popular story was enshrined in the mainstream with the release of the Academy Award-nominated Disney animated film the Hunchback of Notre Dame, with a score by the team behind film and stage smashes Aladdin and Wicked, composer Alan Menken and lyricist Stephen Schwartz.
Now the legendary Oscar-winning duo are bringing the beloved adventure to the stage for the first time during a strictly limited run at the White Plains Performing Arts Center in New York this winter. Helmed by local educator Frank Portanova with choreography by Lexie Fenell Frare, the production's sweeping score will transport audiences to the rooftops of Paris with a host of memorable musical theatre classics like Out There, A Guy Like You and God Help The Outcasts.
What is The Hunch Back Of Notre Dame About?
The musical opens as the bells of Paris' Notre Dame cathedral ring out into a new day. The historic church's bell ringer is the deformed hunch back Quasimodo, an outcast who longs for the freedom of a life lived on the streets below. During the city's Feast of Fools, a masked Quasimodo joins the revelry where he meets and falls under the spell of the beautiful gypsy Esmerelda, an outcast herself. Yet the hunch back is not the only one vying for her affections...